Micro-foundations of repatriate knowledge sharing: the influence of individual-level determinants

This study investigates the micro-foundations of repatriate knowledge sharing by developing a multi-dimensional framework to examine the influence of individual heterogeneity in the areas of demographic, idiosyncratic, cognitive, perceptual and relational characteristics on repatriate engagement in global knowledge sharing. Repatriate knowledge sharing has been recognized as a strategic source for organizational global competitiveness, thus attracting considerable research interest. The role of repatriates in international knowledge sharing, however, remains under-researched. To fill the gap, this study adopts a positivism-oriented quantitative research design and conducts a temporal two-wave questionnaire survey among repatriate scholars in Chinese higher education institutions. A dataset of 192 random samples is analysed by means of structural equation modelling with partial least squares and multiple regression analysis. The statistical analysis indicates that two personality traits—agreeableness and extraversion—predict repatriate knowledge sharing, whereas no significant correlation is found between repatriate knowledge sharing and openness to experience, conscientiousness or neuroticism. The results also show that self-efficacy is predictive of repatriate knowledge sharing behaviour, and that organizational citizenship behaviour fully mediates the relationship between perceived organizational support and repatriate knowledge sharing. In addition, it is found that age negatively moderates the relationship between agreeableness and repatriate knowledge sharing, suggesting that the relationship between agreeableness and repatriate knowledge sharing is stronger for younger repatriates than for repatriates older of age. Findings of this study contribute to the existing literature, as they not only address calls for additional research on micro-foundations of repatriate knowledge sharing, but also offer empirical evidence of the impact of diverse individual characteristics on repatriate knowledge sharing. In examining repatriate knowledge sharing from a micro-foundations perspective, this study integrates people, rather than organization focused theoretical lens to the study of repatriate knowledge sharing, noting that, irrespective of organizational efforts to improve the return on investment on international postings in terms of organizational knowledge development, individual characteristics of repatriates play a key role. These insights have important practical implications for the study of expatriate selection, repatriate knowledge sharing and the return on investment in respect of international assignments from a knowledge development perspective in multinational enterprises.